Written Answers

Friday 17 March 2000

Scottish Executive

Accounts Commission

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the operational targets set for the Accounts Commission, including the response times for replying to enquiries from MSPs.

Mr Frank McAveety: At present no targets are set, although this matter is under consideration. The Accounts Commission do have their own, published in their annual report, but these do not include a specific target for response times to enquiries from MSPs.

Construction Sector

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to undertake a review of the construction sector in Scotland and, in particular, whether it intends to take steps to address the skills shortages currently being experienced in this sector.

Henry McLeish: The Pathfinders to Parliament initiative was launched at the start of 1999 to give businesses in Scotland the opportunity to develop business agenda ideas for early consideration by the Scottish Parliament. As part of that initiative, the Construction Pathfinders Group was asked to review the problems and opportunities facing this sector. The Group’s recommendations have informed the Executive’s thinking and strategy over the last year.

  Comprehensive and regular market information is the key component in ensuring that sectors have the qualified people they need both today and in the future. The Scottish Executive is currently working with Scottish Enterprise to set up a Scottish Labour Market Unit (SLMU) from May 2000. Workshops are taking place with a wide range of interests to assess organisations’ present and future data requirements.

Council Tax

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the standard band D council tax figure will be for 2000-01 and how that figure was arrived at.

Mr Jack McConnell: The average band D council tax figure for 2000-01, calculated on a weighted basis, is £886.

Domestic Abuse

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4204 by Jackie Baillie on 18 February 2000, what specific measures it intends to take in order to improve service provision for the victims of domestic abuse; what total new investment is being committed to this area; how many new phone lines will be available to abused women calling and seeking advice and assistance, and how many additional refuge places will be made available for victims of abuse.

Jackie Baillie: The terms of the Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund provide for expenditure of £8 million over two years for projects which will improve service provision for women suffering domestic abuse. I expect to announce details by the end of March of how the money will be allocated.

  I announced on 8 March that the Scottish Executive had reached agreement with Thus plc to set up a national helpline for victims of domestic abuse to start in May. I hope to make a further announcement shortly setting out details about its operation and staffing.

  I expect the Scottish Partnership on Domestic Abuse to make its recommendations to me in the summer.

Enterprise

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce an ombudsman for Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the local enterprise companies, local authorities and other bodies who provide local enterprise development services and, if so, whether it will include within the remit of any such ombudsman the power to investigate (a) allegations of unfair decisions; (b) delays in decisions, and (c) levels of bureaucracy including duplication, congestion and overlap.

Henry McLeish: There are no plans to introduce such an ombudsman.

Equality and Voluntary Sector Issues Group

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the members of the Equality and Voluntary Sector Issues Group; what this group’s remit is and when it last met.

Jackie Baillie: The Equality and Voluntary Issues Group is the administrative group within the Scottish Executive which deals with the Executive's responsibilities for the promotion of equality and support of the voluntary sector. It is staffed by civil servants and is located within the Executive Secretariat.

European Funding

Mr Alex Salmond: To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take in response to the representations received from Aberdeenshire Council regarding the INTERREG III Programme and the need to address any potential difficulties which local authorities may encounter in attempting to take advantage of this scheme.

Donald Dewar: The precise arrangements for INTERREG III Programmes have yet to be finalised with the European Commission. However, in the light of the general principle that European Structural Funds grants are additional to local beneficiaries, there seems to be no reason why Aberdeenshire Council cannot participate in INTERREG III if they choose to do so and make the necessary financial commitment to match funding.

  As regards additionality and match funding for local authorities, the UK will continue to meet the requirements of European Regulations.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4244 by Susan Deacon on 22 February 2000, by how much it intends to reduce the use of bank and agency nurses in the NHS.

Susan Deacon: I fully expect NHS in Scotland Trusts to review locally their current practices and procedures on bank and agency nurses and to follow the recommendations for the appropriate use of bank and agency nurses set out in the Accounts Commission report.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4244 by Susan Deacon on 22 February 2000, what practices are in the process of being introduced by those NHS Trusts responsible for the heaviest use of bank and agency nurses in order to reduce such usage.

Susan Deacon: The heavier users of bank and agency nurses are adopting practices which ensure authorisation for requests for such nurses is considered and made at senior nurse level. They are also seeking to recruit to unfilled posts on a permanent basis, rather than use bank or agency nurses. In addition trusts are putting in train improved arrangements for monitoring employment of bank and agency nurses and for their continued training and development.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4244 by Susan Deacon on 22 February 2000, what specific steps it is taking in conjunction the Scottish Partnership Forum and NHS Trusts in order to ensure that further improvements are made in relation in the use of bank and agency nurses.

Susan Deacon: All Trusts should currently be reviewing their practices concerning the employment of bank and agency nurses and be taking steps to ensure their policies and practices are in accord with the Accounts Commission Report. The Scottish Partnership Forum (SPF) has already received a presentation from North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust on their comprehensive review of agency and bank nurses. They are due to hear further presentations from Lothian University Hospitals Trust and Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Primary Care Trust, who are main users of bank and agency nurses, at their next meeting on 14 April. Following the presentations the SPF are expected to decide what further action may be required.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4245 by Susan Deacon on 22 February 2000, what specific measures are used by health boards to ensure that nursing agency staff are qualified in the speciality to which they are assigned.

Susan Deacon: Nursing agencies are currently licensed to operate by the Nursing Home Registration and Inspection Unit of health boards.

  While detailed operational procedures differ for each health board, all boards require nursing agencies to ensure that nurses they supply are registered by the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC), and have not got a criminal record (nurses are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act). In addition the agency must take up references for its nurses and must have a quality assurance system in place including staff performance appraisals and client assessments.

  If a registered nurse has a specialist qualification it is recorded by the UKCC. This information is readily accessible to employers.

  Nurses may become competent practitioners in specialist areas by means other than undertaking a specialist qualification but an individual nurse would be considered guilty of professional misconduct were they to claim competence in a specific area when they were not.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4247 by Susan Deacon on 22 February 2000, whether it will provide an address and contact details, for each health board, where details of the number of registered nurses who left the profession in each of the last four years may be obtained.

Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally in the detail required. The names and addresses of all health boards are available on the Scottish Health on the Web (SHOW) site at www.show.scot.uk.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4248 by Susan Deacon on 22 February 2000, when the Chief Medical Officer will commence his study into the capacity and flexibility of high dependency and intensive care provision.

Susan Deacon: Work on the study has now begun.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made by the Scottish Inter-Collegiate Guidelines Network Development Group and the National Screening Committee in relation to genital chlamydia.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) have completed their work on the guideline Management of Genital Chlamydia trachomatis Infection and this is in the process of being printed and will be distributed to health boards, NHS Trusts and other specialist groups in Scotland within the next few weeks. The guideline will be available on the SIGN website.

  The National Screening Committee has established two pilot screening programmes to assess the feasibility of a UK opportunistic population-based screening programme for genital chlamydia infection. The results of the pilots are expected in 2001.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (i) trainee Medical Laboratory Scientific Officers (MLSOs); (ii) MLSO 1 and (iii) MLSO 2 grades will benefit from the most recent pay increases announced.

Susan Deacon: A revised pay offer was made to this group of staff on 11 January. The offer is still being considered by staff-side representatives. If the offer is accepted, all MLSOs in Scotland will benefit from the increases including (i) 47 trainee MLSOs; (ii) 1,106 MLSO 1’s and (iii) 467 MLSO 2’s.

Housing

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 2000 will include powers to restrict the number of such HMO’s in a specific area and, in particular, in each (a) tenement stair and (b) street.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The proposed Order will introduce mandatory licensing of HMOs by local authorities. It will be for local authorities to decide their criteria for approving applications including any considerations relating to the amenity of particular locations. However, it will also be necessary for them to consider each application on its merits.

Housing

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will announce local authority housing capital allocations for 2000-01 and whether there will be any supplementary allocations for 1999-2000.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I am able to announce both the local authority housing capital allocations for 2000-01 and supplementary allocations for 1999-2000. These are set out in the following tables.

  Table 1

  2000-01 Allocations Dumfries and Galloway

  


Authority

  

Allocation 

  (£ million)

  



Aberdeen 

  City

  

5.293

  



Aberdeenshire

  

4.495

  



Angus

  

1.536

  



Argyll and 

  Bute

  

1.607

  



Clackmannanshire

  

1.597

  



Comhairle 

  nan Eilean Siar

  

1.701

  



Dumfries 

  and Galloway

  

4.251

  



Dundee City

  

8.436

  



East Ayrshire

  

3.489

  



East Dunbartonshire

  

2.388

  



East Lothian

  

2.510

  



East Renfrewshire

  

0.964

  



City of 

  Edinburgh

  

14.916

  



Falkirk

  

5.369

  



Fife

  

7.007

  



Glasgow 

  City

  

23.750

  



Highland

  

7.230

  



Inverclyde

  

3.965

  



Midlothian

  

2.122

  



Moray

  

1.848

  



North Ayrshire

  

2.953

  



North Lanarkshire

  

12.330

  



Orkney Islands

  

0.224

  



Perth and 

  Kinross

  

2.108

  



Renfrewshire

  

8.565

  



Scottish 

  Borders

  

2.399

  



Shetland

  

1.981

  



South Ayrshire

  

2.906

  



South Lanarkshire

  

5.858

  



West Dunbartonshire

  

5.657

  



West Lothian

  

2.097

  



SCOTLAND

  

154.600

  



  Table 2

  1999-2000 Supplementary Allocations

  


Council

  

Allocation

  



Inverclyde

  

£300,000

  



North Ayrshire

  

£500,000

  



West Dunbartonshire

  

£110,000

  



Scottish 

  Borders

  

£160,000

  



Glasgow 

  City

  

£600,000

  



Comhairle 

  Nan Eilean Siar

  

£100,000

Lone Parent Groups

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding it and its executive agencies have provided to lone parent support groups in each of the last three years and in the current financial year.

Mr Sam Galbraith: One Parent Families Scotland have received the following funding under section 10(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968:

  


1996-97

  

£32,340

  



1997-98

  

£32,340

  



1998-99

  

£32,340

  



1999-2000

  

£33,310
(plus 

  an additional one-off allocation of £10,300 in August 1999 to 

  meet short-term pressures)

Lone Parents

Dr Richard Simpson (Ochil) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding applications have been received from Gingerbread Scotland in the past three years and what funding has been, or will be, made available to this association.

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving Gingerbread Scotland.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to address the financial situation of Gingerbread Scotland.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Gingerbread Scotland applied unsuccessfully in the past three years for funding of between £13,383 and £37,450 under section 10(1) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to support their headquarters operations. Any future funding request will be considered on its merits.

Mental Health

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-1130 by Susan Deacon on 10 February 2000, what progress has been made in establishing a support group for mental health services.

Susan Deacon: I am pleased to confirm that a Mental Health and Well Being Support Group has been established under the Chairmanship of Dr Ian Pullen, Consultant Psychiatrist at Borders Primary Care NHS Trust. They will begin their task on 31 March this year.

  The eight member Group including representation from the Association of Directors of Social Work, the NHS and local advocacy will draw on expertise and support from all in Scotland with an interest in advancing and improving the daily lives of those with a mental illness.

  Specifically, the Group will seek to support, influence and advance the further development of mental health services in Scotland and offer advice locally, and to the Scottish Executive, on solutions and best practice in the full implementation of the Framework for Mental Health Services in Scotland agenda for change and improvement in mental health services.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the number of escapes and escapees from each prison since May 1999 and of the number and type of re-categorisation of prisoners for each prison since May 1999.

Mr Jim Wallace: There has been one escape from a Scottish prison since May 1999. The categorisation information is not collected centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Public Appointments

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a list of all publicly funded positions, including the name of the person currently in post, where the total package of remuneration received exceeds that received by the First Minister.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Executive does not hold information centrally on the remuneration packages of all persons holding publicly funded positions. The publication Appointments to Non-Departmental Public Bodies , updated in February 2000, gives the names and remuneration of Chairs and Board members of executive and advisory non-departmental public bodies, nationalised industries, public corporations and NHS bodies in Scotland. The publication is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. The names and remuneration of the Chief Executives and Chief Officers of most public bodies are published in the body’s annual accounts.

Scottish Executive Staff

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its employees are (a) men and (b) women aged 50 years or more and what proportion of the total workforce such workers represent.

Mr Jack McConnell: There were 1,820 men and 817 women aged 50 years or more employed by the Scottish Executive at 1 March 2000. Employees aged 50 years or more represented 18.2% of the total workforce.

Scottish Executive Staff

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many rehabilitation workers for the visually impaired are currently employed by it, its executive agencies and local authorities.

Mr Jack McConnell: No rehabilitation workers for the visually impaired are employed by the Scottish Executive or its Executive Agencies. Information on the number of rehabilitation workers for the visually impaired employed by local authorities is not held centrally.

Social Inclusion

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the changes being proposed by Renfrewshire Council to the social inclusion partnership contracts and their potential impact on the recruitment of participants for social inclusion partnership boards.

Jackie Baillie: We are aware of the issues and these are presently being discussed with Renfrewshire Council.

Special Advisers

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to re-allocate the total expenditure on employing special advisers to fund an enhanced pay award in 2000-01 to the lowest paid in (a) the health service or (b) further education colleges.

Donald Dewar: No.

Sport

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking and what funding it is providing to ensure the continuation of the Scottish Women’s International Rugby Team, and whether it has made any representations to  sportscotland and the National Lottery Commission to ensure the continuation of the team.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The Scottish Executive does not provide direct funding for sport. Neither do we become involved in individual Lottery Sports Fund applications or intervene in decisions made by  sportscotland.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the numbers who will be employed or working within the tourist industry, in each local authority area, (a) this year and (b) for each of the next three years.

Henry McLeish: The latest data is in respect of 1997. Estimates for the next three years are not held.

  


Local Authority

  

Tourism 

  Employment: 1997

  



Aberdeen 

  City

  

9,863

  



Aberdeenshire

  

5,582

  



Angus

  

2,989

  



Argyll & 

  Bute

  

3,845

  



Clackmannanshire

  

786

  



Dumfries 

  & Galloway

  

4,481

  



Dundee City

  

4,638

  



East Ayrshire

  

2,368

  



East Dunbartonshire

  

1,712

  



East Lothian

  

2,271

  



East Renfrewshire

  

1,301

  



Edinburgh 

  City

  

20,559

  



Eilean Siar

  

687

  



Falkirk 

  

  

3,228

  



Fife

  

8,742

  



Glasgow 

  City

  

24,722

  



Highland

  

10,247

  



Inverclyde

  

2,583

  



Midlothian

  

1,503

  



Moray

  

2,503

  



North Ayrshire

  

3,844

  



North Lanarkshire

  

5,485

  



Orkney

  

509

  



Perth & 

  Kinross

  

6,387

  



Renfrewshire

  

4,896

  



Scottish 

  Borders

  

2,289

  



Shetland

  

839

  



South Ayrshire

  

4,709

  



South Lanarkshire

  

6,591

  



Stirling

  

3,554

  



West Dunbartonshire

  

2,602

  



West Lothian

  

2,787

  



Total

  

159,102

  



  Source: Annual Employment Survey.

  Notes:

  Excludes self-employed, estimated at 17,000.

  Includes all employment: full time, part time, seasonal, year-round.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that all small businesses within the tourism sector have full access to e-commerce and the OSSIAN Project and how it will achieve this.

Henry McLeish: All businesses who are members of an Area Tourist Board will have access to the Ossian system and will be encouraged to use the e-commerce facility available after June 2000.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to ensure that the Scottish mountains are included within United Nations’ promotion of 2002 as the year of the mountains, and whether it will convene a group or committee, to include all interested parties, to ensure that Scotland does not lose out on any benefits which this initiative may offer, especially for tourism.

Henry McLeish: Dealings with the United Nations remain a reserved matter for the UK Government. Niche markets such as walking and climbing which take advantage of Scotland’s spectacular environment and particularly its mountains are a vital element of the country’s tourism product. In line with A New Strategy for Scottish Tourism the Scottish Tourist Board will seek to promote these activities while emphasising the conservation of the environment on which they depend.

  The Scottish Executive has been pursuing for some time the sustainable development of mountain areas as encompassed in Chapter 21 of Agenda 21. Initiatives such as the formation of the Glenmore Working Group, the commitment to the Rothiemurchus Concordat, projects carried out by the members of the Cairngorm Partnership and our recent commitment to establishing national parks are contributing to fulfilling the UK Government’s undertaking.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer  which members of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, if any, have carried out any visits outside Scotland in connection with the Holyrood Project, and the dates and costs of any such visits.

Sir David Steel: On 22 and 23 July 1999, Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body members Robert Brown, Andrew Welsh and myself visited parliamentary chambers in Brussels and The Hague in connection with the Holyrood Project. The total cost of the visits was £1,727.00, which includes air and train travel, overnight stay, meals and taxi fares.